Racking mechanism for knitting machines



Sept. 21, 1937 M. z1M|c 2,093,858

BACKING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Feb. 19, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEYS M. zuvuc 2,093,858

BACKING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Sept. 21, 1937.

Filed Feb. 19, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIHHI INVENTOR. 0/4441 Z/M/c BY :MW

ATTORNEYS Sept. 2L 1937.

BACKING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Feb. 19, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 W wil ATTORNEYS M. ZIMIC 2,093,858

Patented Sept. 21, 1937 UNITED TA'EES PATENT or ies BACKING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Application February 19, 1935, Serial No. 7,179

13 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in knitting machines and has particular reference to a racking mechanism therefor.

The development of racking mechanisms, which involve the longitudinal shifting of one needle bed relative to another, has reached the stage in which it is now known, in a full automatic machine, to selectively rack a bed from one racking position thereof, to which the bed has been racked in a previous operation, to any one of a plurality of other racking positions of different magnitudes within the racking range, as exemplified in the United States Patent issued to Adam Geyer, dated August 2'7, 1935, No. 2,012,594.

In accordance with the present invention, it is proposed to simplify and thereby render more practical the mechanism whereby the racking needle bed may be selectively operated to any one of a plurality of racking positions of different magnitudes from any other position to which said bed has been previously racked. One of the features which makes possible the attainment of a more simplified construction resides in adjusting the driving member of the racking mechanism relative to the operating member through the medium of which a selective racking adjustment of the needle bed is accomplished, as distinguished from the Geyer construction wherein the operating member is adjusted relative to the driving member. Further simplification and greater positiveness of operation is obtained by means of a more direct drive between the operating member and the racking bar or arm of the needle bed, and the utilization of a screw-threaded shaft for said racking bar instead of a camslotted member as has been previously used.

The inventive idea involved is capable of receiving a variety of mechanical expressions one of which, for purposes of illustration, is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation, partly in section, of a knitting machine and the improved racking mechanism of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary end elevation of the machine illustrating the control for the racking mechanism by means of which it is selectively operated.

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 and showing parts of the racking mechanism in the position just prior to a racking operation.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 3 of the racking mechanism in one of its operated positions.

Figures 5 and 6 are perspective views of two members forming part of the racking mechanism and which interchangeably constitute operating and stopping means for shifting the racking needle bed of the machine and stopping it in a desired racking position.

Figure '7 is a vertical longitudinal section through the racking mechanism showing its connection with the racking bar of the needle bed whereby the latter is adjusted to various racking positions.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating the indicating means by which can be determined any one of the positions to which the needle bed has been racked during the operation of the machine, and

- Figure 9 is a horizontal section through the driving member and its support which forms a part of the racking mechanism, said driving member being adjustable relative to the members illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 so as to selectively operate the latter through movements of different range or magnitude.

In illustrating the invention, only so much of the knitting machine is shown as to enable those skilled in the art to obtain a complete understanding of the racking mechanism. Thus the needle beds or plates themselves, which are of conventional construction, are not shown in the drawings but their supports it by which the beds are maintained alongside of each other in a horizontal plane, are illustrated. Also, there is shown the racking bar or arm I! by means of which one of the needle beds is shifted longitudinally relative to the other to obtain the racking operations of the needles of the machine. At the end of the bar H remote from that to which the needle bed is connected, said arm carries .a follower nut l2 movable in a longitudinal recess l3 formed in the upper section M of a housing l5. This nut I2 is secured to the bar II by a set screw it and is provided therethrough with a screw-threaded opening I! engaged by the threads I8 of a rotatable shaft l9 capable of being driven in opposite directions. and to various degrees so as to shift the nut l2 back and forth thereon and thereby transmit the desired racking movement to the needle bed through the bar II. By the provision of the follower nut and screw-threaded shaft, the pitch of the threads of which is very low, it has been found in actual practice that no additional instrumentalities are needed to prevent any possible overthrow of the needle bed being racked relative to the other bed, which overthrow might otherwise result in serious damage to the machine and the needles by reason of non-registration of the needle grooves in the beds.

It is desirable that the operator of the machine may, at any time during the operation thereof, or when the same is stopped because of a defect in the fabric being knitted, to ascertain the exact position of the racked needle bed so that it may be readjusted to enable the successive operations to be repeated in proper sequence. To this end, an indicating means is provided which consists of a pointer 26 (Figure 8) secured to the upper surface of the bar H by the set screw l6 .and movable with said bar in a longitudinal slot 2| formed in a cover plate 22. Along one edge of the slot 2| the same is provided with indicia 23, preferably numbers, indicating the various positions within the racking range. In the present instance there are shown one neutral position designated by in which the needle beds are not racked relative to each other and six other racking positions. Thus as the bar H is shifted longitudinally the pointer 26 will register with one of the digits and should the machine be stopped for any reason, the operator may immediately determine from the location of the pointer 20 the particular position of the racking needle bed. Should it be necessary to reset the needle bed, this may be accomplished manually by means of .a resetting shaft 24 mounted in a guide 25 at one end of themachine in longitudinal alignment with the shaft l9 and normally held in an inoperative position by means of a coil spring 26 interposed between said guide and the handle 21 of the shaft. The inner end of the shaft 24 and adjacent end of the shaft l9 are provided with cooperating clutching elements 28 normally out of engagement with each other but adapted to interengage when the shaft 24 is forced inwardly against the tension of the spring 26. When the clutch elements are so engaged, the shaft 24 may be rotated in either direction to transmit a similar motion to the shaft I9 and thereby adjust the follower nut l2 back and forth until the needle bed has been reset to the proper position for a repetition of the racking sequence.

During the automatic operation of the machine, rotation is imparted to the shaft IS in either direction through the medium of a pinion 29 on said shaft which meshes with a large gear 30 the major portion of which is disposed within the lower section of the housing wherein said gear is mounted for rotation upon a trunnion 3|. This trunnion also carries a pinion'32 which constitutes a direct drive from the operating member of the racking mechanism to the shaft l9 through the gear 30 and pinion 29.

The racking mechanism further comprises two plates 33 and 34 mounted for reciprocation in opposite directions in the lower section of the housing [5 and transversely relative to the shaft l9. To accomplish the movements of the plates in opposite directions, each of them carries a rack bar 35 which meshes with the pinion 32 so that when one of the plates is operated by the driving member 36, later to be described in detail, the rack bar 35 associated with said plate will turn the pinion 32 in one direction and thereby impart a linear movement to the other plate in the opposite direction through engagement of said pinion with the rack bar associated with said other plate. The plates 33 and 34, which are arranged alongside of each other in the same horizontal plane, are designed to have different ranges of reciprocating movements imparted thereto by the driving member 36, the changes in the magnitude of such movements depending upon the position of said driving member relative to said plates, said driving member being vertically adjustable as will later be described. To attain the variations in the magnitude of movements of said plates, and thereby control the amount of rotation of the shaft 59 and consequent racking movement of the needle bed, each of said plates has the end thereof adjacent the driving member provided with a stepped formation extending in opposite direction to the end of the other plate to form a series of contact surfaces or shoulders 31 equal in number to the various positions to which said plates may be moved by the driving member. The latter member also reciprocates and has a fixed degree of movement extending from the full-line position of Figure 3 to a point indicated by the vertical dot-and-dash line. Depending upon the 'relative positions of the plates 33 and 34 attained by previous operation thereof and also upon the vertical position of the driving member 36 in relation to said plates, one of the latter acts as an operating member for the pinion 32 while the other member acts as a stop which contacts the member 36 to limit the turning movement of the pinion 32 and thereby bring the needle bed to the desired racking position in which its needle grooves will properly align with the grooves of the other needle bed. As shown in Figure 3, the plate 33 has been advanced to a projected position relative to the plate 34 so that it will be first contacted by the driving member 36 when the latter is reciprocated, and will thus act as the operating member, with the plate 34 assuming the role of the stop member during the next racking operation. Thus, with the parts in the position of Figure 3 in which the driving member 36 has been elevated to align horizontally with the uppermost shoulders 37 of the plates 33 and 34, in which the extreme or greatest racking movement of the needle bed is to be attained, the reciprocating movement of the driving member 35 is started, in a manner to later appear, and at the beginning of such movement it contacts the shoulder 31 of the plate 33 and moves said plate to the left. At the same time, through the rack and pinion arrangement, the plate 34 is moved to the right and rotation is imparted to the shaft 19 in the desired direction. When the free end of the driving member 36 reaches the left hand extremity of its fixed movement, indicated by the vertical dot-and-dash line the uppermost shoulder 31 of the plate 34, which is now acting as the stop member, comes in contact with said driving member, and thus, through its rack and gear connection with the plate 33, brings the latter to a stop and, aided by the screw thread 18 and follower nut I2, prevents any overthrow of the needle bed. With the positions of the plates 33 and 34 thus reversed, all of the shoulders 3! of the plate 34 are now projected beyond the corresponding shoulders of the plate 33 in the direction of the driving member 36 and consequently should the latter member be lowered to any one of its other positions for a subsequent racking operation of a different magnitude. said driving member will, upon its next reciprocation, contact the shoulder of the plate 34 with which it is horizontally aligned, and in such instance the latter plate will then act as the operating member and the plate 33 will be the stop member. Thus, as shown in Figure 4, if the driving member 36 is horizontally aligned with the fifth shoulder from the top of the plate for'the next succeeding racking operation, said shoulder will be contacted and the plates adjusted to the position shown inv said figure in which the driving member is illustrated at the extremity of it'slefthand movement. Upon the return of the driving member to its retracted position, it may again be shifted in either direction and toany extent within the limits of its adjustment 5 to effect another racking movement, and depending upon the direction in which said driving member is adjusted, it will contact a shoulder of one of the plates 33, 34 which plate will then act as an operating member. There are times during the operation of the machine when it is not desired to rack the needle plate. In such instance, no adjustment of the driving member SE from its previous position need be made and the same will continue to reciprocate with no effect upon the plates 33, 34 except to contact the shoulders thereof which are then aligned with said driving member. It may be desirable, however, to avoid this contact of the plates when no racking operation is being accomplished and thereby eliminate any possible wear upon the plates and driving member. This may be accomplished by merely providing a range of vertical movement of the driving member which will enable itto be positioned in a horizontal plane above the uppermost shoulders 37 of the two plates or below the lowermost shoulders thereof so that when the driving member is reciprocated during the period when no racking operations are to take place, said member will not contact said shoulders.

The supporting means for the driving member 35 and the mechanism by which it is reciprocated through a fixed range of movement will now be described. Said means comprises a support or carriage 38 having guide pins 39 extending laterally therefrom in a horizontal direction and each adapted to engage in a guide carried by a standard M fixed upon a convenient part of the machine frame. A vertically disposed guiding post 42 is carried by the support 38 and passes through an opening formed in the vertically adjustable carrier 43. This carrier is provided with a recess M in which the inner end of the driving member 36 is adjustably mounted and secured in its adjusted positions by means of set screws 45. On one side of the carrier $3 the same supports a shoe 46 which is utilized in imparting vertical movement to the carrier 63 when adjusting the driving member for various racking operations. The shoe it may be adjustable in a vertical direction on the carrier 43 and for this purpose said shoe is provided with a longitudinal slot ll through which a set screw 48 extends into the carrier to tighten the shoe in its adjusted positions. A set screw 49 at the top of the carrier 43 engages an enlargement 50 on the shoe 6 to effect the necessary adjustments after the set screw li! has been loosened sufliciently after which the latter may be tightened as previously described. The support 38 is horizontally reciprocated to impart a similar motion to the driving member 3b and for this purpose the rear face of said support is provided with a cam 5! adapted to be engaged by a roller 52 carried by the crank arm 53 which rotates in the direction of the arrow in Figure 3. This crank arm is mounted upon the power shaft 54 which is rotated two revolutions during each complete round of the reciprocating carriage (not shown) of the knitting machine, so that a racking operation may be efiected at the end of each course that the carriage travels. Thus, as the carriage approaches. either one of the extremities of its movement the roller 52 will bebrought into the position shown inx'Figure 3 and during the time that 'it takes for said carriage to reach said extremity of movement and start its return movement the roller 52 will'pass over the cam surface 5! and thus force the support 38 to move to the left as viewed in Figure 3. The driving member 36, having previously been vertically adjusted to the desired positiomwill now advance and engage oneYof the plates 33, St is previously described. The operation of said plates and the consequent racking of the needle bed is accomplished before the lock or cam mechanism of the machine carriage comes in contact with the needle jacks at the adjacent end of the machine, and after the roller 52 has disengagedfrom the cam 5! the support 38 is returned to its starting point under the influence of a retractile spring 55 connected to said support. This return movement by the spring 55 is limited by a stop 56 carried by a bracket on which said stop is adjustable by means of a set screw 58.

The selective adjustment of the driving memher 36 whereby the same may be positioned at any point within the racking range, or in a neutral position in which the member will not contact either of the plates '33, 34, is best illustrated in Figure 2. This adjustment is under the primary control of a pattern chain, generally indicated by the numeral 59, of a type commonly employed in this art and consisting of a plurality of links 56 of d'ifierentheights, there being at least one link for each position of adjustment of the driving member, This chain 59 is mounted upon a sprocket 66 which may carry a number of other chains for controlling other operations of the machine, and said sprocket is mounted upon a shaft 62 'rotatably supported in a part of the machine frame. The lowest link fill on the chain is designed to accomplish the adjustment of the driving member to its uppermost or neutral position, while the highest link will cause said driving member to be moved to its lowest or other neutral position, the links of intermediate heights operating to adjust the driving member into horizontal alignment with the various shoulders 31 of the two plates 33, 34; Theshaft 6i and pattern chain" carried thereby have imparted thereto astep by-step motion which will successively bring the various links of the chain into operative position. This motion is transmitted to the shaft 532 by means'of a pitm an connection 63 driven from the power shaft 54. and connected to an oscillatory lever E l pivoted at 65 to the frame of the machine. An operating pawl 66 has one end connected to the-upper end of the lever 64 and its other end 'engageable with a" ratchet 61 carried bythe'inner end of the shaft 62. If desired, the pawl 66 may be controlled so that it will not engage the ratchet t l during intervals when no racking operation is to be performed. Such control maybe effected through a well-known mechanism which forms no par't of the present invention' and which includes a lever 68 which is periodically operated-that is during the nonrackin operation of the machine, to raise the pawl 56 so that its stroke will be ineffective to step the ratchet 5? around.

When a link 6!] has been brought to its operative position at the'top'of the pattern chain, it

engages one end of a lever 69 pivoted at 10 to cause a rocking movement of said lever. If it be a lower link such as would be necessary to raise the driving member to the position shown in Figure 3, for instance, a spring H connected to the opposite end of the lever 69 from the end which engages the link of the chain, becomes effective to draw said opposite end upwardly with the result that an upward pull is exerted upon a link 12 having one end connected to said lever 69. The other end of said link is pivoted to a crank arm 13 mounted upon a shaft 14 which has fixed thereon one end of the shoe-operating arm 15. The other end of said arm 15 engages the under surface of the shoe 46 and as said end is raised in response to the operation just described, the carrier 43 is also raised to push the driving member 36 to the proper height in accordance with the link on the pattern chain which contacted the lever 69. From the foregoing description it will be obvious that when a succeeding higher link engages the lever 69, a reverse operation takes place in which the end of the lever 69 connected to the spring H is lowered against the tension of said spring and the arm 15 is also lowered to the proper point determined by the higher chain link. This lowering of the arm 15 permits the carrier 43 to drop by gravity and its downward movement is limited by contact of the shoe 46 with said arm 15. A spring controlled holding dog 16 may be associated with the ratchet 61 to prevent any overthrow of said ratchet when the same is operated by the pawl 66.

What is claimed is:

1. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed thereof including a driving means, an operating member responsive to said driving means to rack said needle bed and having movements of different magnitude, a support movable toward and away from said operating member, a carrier for said driving means mounted on said support and adjustable relative thereto in a direction transverse to the movement thereof and relative to said operating member to vary the magnitude of movements of the latter, and means to adjust said carrier.

2. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed thereof including a reciprocatory driving means, a reciprocatory operating member responsive to said driving means to rack said needle bed and having movements of different magnitude, a support movable toward and away from said operating member, a carrier for said driving means mounted on said support and adjustable thereon in a direction transverse to the movements thereof and relative to said operating member to vary the magnitude of movements of the latter, and means to adjust said carrier.

3. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed thereof including a driving member, a reciprocating support therefor in which said member is adjustable transverse to the direction of reciprocation of said support, an operating member having movements of different magnitude actuated by said driving member to rack said bed, and means to adjust said driving member in its support to vary the magnitude of movement of said operating member to any desired extent, within the racking range, in sucoessive operations of said driving member.

4. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed thereof including a driving member, a reciprocating support therefor in which said member is adjustable transverse to the di rection of reciprocation of said support, an operating member having movements of different magnitude actuated by said driving member to rack said bed, means to adjust said driving member in its support to vary the magnitude of movements of said operating member to any desired extent, within the racking range, in successive operations of said driving member, and a stop member for limiting the movements of said operating member in accordance with the adjustments of said driving member.

5. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed thereof including a driving member, a rotatable shaft having a screw thread thereon, means operated by said screw thread to rack said bed when said shaft is rotated, variably operated means controlled by said driving member to impart different degrees of rotation to said shaft, and means to adjust said driving member relative to said variably operated means to vary to any extent within the racking range the degree of rotation of said shaft at each successive operation of said driving member.

6. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed thereof including a driving means having operating movements of fixed magnitude, a carrier for said driving means, means to move said carrier to efiect the movements of said driving means, an operating member responsive to movements of said driving means to rack said needle bed and having movements of different magnitude which alter the degree of various racking operations of said needle bed, and means to adjust said carrier relative to said operating member to vary the magnitude of movement of the latter to any desired extent, within the racking range, during successive movements of said driving means.

7. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed thereof including a driving means having operating movements of fixed magnitude, a carrier for said driving means, means to move said carrier to effect the movements of said driving means, an operating member responsive to movements of said driving means to rack said needle bed and having movements of different magnitude which alter the degree of various racking operations of said needle bed, and a selectively operable mechanism for adjusting said carrier relative to said operating member in directions transverse to the operating movements of said driving means to vary the magnitude of movement of said operating member to any desired extent, within the racking range during successive operating movements of said driving means.

8. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed thereof including a driving means having operating movements of fixed magnitude, a carrier for said driving means, means to move said carrier to effect the movements of said driving means, an operating member responsive to movements of said driving means to rack said needle bed and having movements of difierent magnitude which alter the degree of various racking operations of said needle bed, means to adjust said carrier relative to said operating member to vary the magnitude of the movement of the latter to any desired extent, within the racking range, during successive movements of said driving means, and a stop member for limiting the movements of said operating member in accordance with the adjustments of said driving means.

9. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed thereof including a driving means having operating movements of fixed magnitude, a carrier for said driving means, means to move said carrier to efiect the movements of said driving means, an operating member responsive to movements of said driving means to rack said needle bed and having movements of different magnitude which alter the degree of various racking operations of said needle bed, a selectively operable mechanism for adjusting said carrier relative to said operating member in directions transverse to the operating movements of said driving means to vary the magnitude of movement of said operating member to any desired extent, within the racking range during successive operating movements of said driving means, and a stop member for limiting the movements of said operating member in accordance with the adjustments of said driving means.

10. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed including a driving means, two members alternatively responsive to the operation of said driving means for cooperative action in racking said needle bed and having movements of dilferent magnitude to alter the degree of said racking, a movable carrier in which said driving means is mounted, and means to adjust said carrier relative to said members to secure the different movements thereof upon operation of said driving means.

11. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed including a driving means, two rack bars each having movements of different magnitude and alternatively responsive to the operation of said driving means to rack said bed in different directions, means including a gear engaging said rack bars to transmit racking movements to said bed from said bars and in accordance with the movements of the latter, a support movable in the direction of said bars, a carrier for said driving means movable in said support in a direction transverse to the movement of the latter, and means to adjust said carrier relative to said support to effect the difierent movements of said rack bars.

12. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed thereof including a member operable to rack said bar from one point to which it has been racked during a previous operation to any other point within the racking range without first racking said bed to any other position thereof, a drive for said member having movements to different operative positions relative thereto to effect the racking movements of said bed, a support movable relative to said member and carrying said drive, and means to adjust said drive relative to said support to secure the difierent operative positions of said drive.

13. In a knitting machine, a racking mechanism for a needle bed thereof including two members selectively operable to rack said bed in either one of two directions from certain points to which the bed has been previously racked to any other point within the racking range, a drive for said members, a carrier for said drive, a support in which said drive is adjustable, and selectively operable means to adjust said drive relative to said members and support to variously actuate said members.

MICHAEL ZIMIC. 

